Snooker: Doherty clings on to draw level

Guy Hodgson
Tuesday 29 April 1997 23:02 BST
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Steve Davis could see only one disadvantage for Ken Doherty after the Irishman had slaughtered him 13-3 in the Embassy World Championships. "It was a brilliant performance," he said. "His problem now will be emulating it. If he can who knows what can happen."

There were times yesterday when Doherty looked as though he did not have a clue what would happen either, but somehow he managed to slip out of the first session of his quarter-final against John Higgins level at 4- 4. It was the sort of draw that sticks in the mind as a victory.

It was a strange start to the match in which Higgins, who has never lost to Doherty, frequently threatened to dominate. The second seed led 3-0 and had chances to win virtually every frame that followed but his opponent clung on.

The sixth frame could have been used as a representative sample in that Higgins established a 59-1 lead, missed a shot and had to squirm in his seat as his opponent made a 65 clearance. Higgins, who has told himself to forget that he is using a cue he only began playing with in January, glared at the piece of wood like it was an enemy.

Doherty, too, has a mental barrier to cross, although he can locate the problem in the mirror. The seventh seed is a player with maximum talent and a little less application and his manager, Ian Doyle, sometimes despairs of him. It was one of the more interesting pieces of motivation when, angered by two recent routs by Davis, he said that life was passing his 26-year-old charge by.

"Ken is lazy," Doyle said. "He has let himself down. There's no point in a player lying in bed until lunchtime and then practising for a few hours. He's a talented young man but that doesn't compensate for the titles he should have won.

"It's like being an alcoholic. You have to realise you have a problem before you begin to treat the symptoms. His performances against Steve Davis at Wembley and in Ireland were shocking."

You can imagine then, the satisfaction Doherty took in trouncing Davis, although sometimes the consequent letdown can be destructive. Certainly he looked jaded at first until a break of 58 gave him the fourth frame and he then lived off the scraps Higgins threw him.

James Wattana, who appears to be getting better the longer the tournament lasts, was faced by more substantial fare at the table and tucked in for a 5-3 advantage over the 1991 champion, John Parrott. It was not Wattana at his best but Parrott was hardly flowing either.

"After I lost in the first round of the British Open I didn't pick up a cue again," Parrott said after beating Anthony Hamilton in the second round. "It's the non-practice approach to the World Championship as opposed to practising seven hours a day and turning up in Sheffield exhausted." You can safely assume he was practising last night in readiness for this afternoon's resumption.

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